Today and today also
by slvreflection
Summary: Luffy has a great desire for a musician on board. Yet, why was it that no on really thought about the reason why?


Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot is mine.

A/N: I always wondered why Luffy wanted a Musician and this is the result. Damn you plot bunnies from distracting me from work that need to be done XD Please read and enjoy!

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Today and today also like many other days, the captain of the Straw Hat pirates complains about the lack hands on the ship. Sure there was his first mate, navigator, lair-ace shooter, cook, doctor, historian, and now a ship right. Yet, like all other mornings, Luffy complains about the lack of music on their ship. There was no musician and he dearly wanted one. It was very important that he would find one. Freedom on the sea meant nothing if there music was not there to go along with it.

He wanted to have the song of the sea.

~1~

"Why is a musician so important anyways?" Zoro had asked once while it only the two of them sailing together aimlessly.

For a moment he could have swore that he had seen the smile on his captain's face drop but the change was too fast for him to make sure. The straw hat boy just turned to him and made a dramatic pose. Putting his right foot up against the railing and making fists at the sky, Luffy grinned defiantly at the clouds.

"Pirates sing don't they?!" He yelled happily into the sky.

The first mate merely sighed as he went back to his lazy nap for the afternoon. The answer was always the same no matter when he asked. It never changed.

'_Pirates sing don't they?'_

"Yah, sure, they sing," was all Zoro said before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

~2~

On some days, while the breeze is just right, he would sit on top of the lamb head with his arms crossed. His coal black eyes closed, body still as stone, just sitting there. It was on those days that Nami would tell him to be careful of falling but receive no answer from him. There were times she would get irritated. She would get ready to stab with her sewing needle but it was at that instant she heard him whisper the same thing he would say on other days with perfect breezes.

"So many breezes, but never enough," he sighed.

It was always that line that stopped her. It made her turn away from him with a small sigh of defeat. Even though she did not know what he was talking about or why he seemed uncharacteristically sad, she just let him be on his favorite spot.

_The song can't be carried on such tiny wind._

~3~

To be honest, he had been surprised the first time he heard his ace shooter sing. Though it wasn't exactly what he was looking for, it still pleased him that he could now have something more lively than brawls on his ship.

"Ussop! Sing!" Luffy would demand as he stuffed his mouth with as much meat he could fit.

"Of course, Luffy! I will tell you the tales of the great sea warrior who defeated the rolling fat pirates of the mountains!" Ussop responded dramatically as he stood at once and began to sing.

Ussop never asked Luffy why he would ask for a song randomly. Instead, the ace shooter would just sing if he was in the mood. It just felt as if it was something that only he could do at the time and it made him feel a little less useless on the ship. The long nosed male would get up on a barrel and start reciting the songs that he knew, making up a few, and even wildly dancing with his captain from time to time. It was message from Luffy that he received even without the straw hat captain having to say anything.

_Please sing for me until the day I find my song._

~4~

Sanji had to force himself not to kick the crap captain in the face all the time for stealing food. Though it was a very tempting and justified action, the cook found that he could not kick Luffy while he was humming.

It was very odd to find him humming the first place. He would usually burst out loudly in song. For the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates _never_ did anything quietly. Whether it was attacking the enemy or devouring food that Sanji made, it was always done with the high most possible about of noise.

But when Luffy hummed the tune seemed to change. Though most parts remained the same, there was this one part that had many variations. It made the cook wonder if that part of the song depended on his crap-of-a-nakama's mood for the day. But that didn't make sense because Luffy was always happy. The only time he was ever mad was when his crew members were in deep life-threatening trouble. So Sanji threw that idea to the fishes.

He remembered asking once, "What's that you're humming, Luffy?"

The captain stared at him, grinning like a guiltless child caught red-handed in the cookie jar. There was a second of silence, Sanji had thought that Luffy wasn't going to answer and turned to leave. However, before he could even fully reach the door he heard his captain's voice speak.

"The Pirate King's song."

The blond cook didn't press for clarification. Instead, he walked out of the kitchen and lit a cigarette. He would kick that crap-idiot for eating up the fridge later.

After Luffy finished his song.

~5~

Throughout all his travels with the gang, as much as he tried to deny it, Chopper always found himself having fun. Whether it was trying to eat as much food as his captain or pouring over the medicine books that Nami let him buy, Chopper was having fun.

As he read his newest book on purple poka-dotted mushrooms, Chopper felt his mind wandering to what adventures he would run into next. Feeling a little tired the reindeer got up and did a little stretch. It was deep into the night. The little light from the moon was seeping through the clouds but that was easily covered up by the treacherous clouds. The candle that the little reindeer had lit for reading was blown out by the tiny breeze, leaving nothing but a small visible trail of smoke behind.

In the silence of the night, Chopper almost felt afraid that something was going to pop out and attack him. Wary of anything that moved in the darkness, for her could see the outline of shadows, the doctor hid behind his book as best he could. It was only when he looked over to where the lamb head was did he scream out in terror.

"LUFFY! THERE'S A GHOST SITTING ON YOUR SPOT!" the reindeer screamed, tears brimming his eyes, hooves clutched onto his little hat.

There was a sound of laughter, loud and boisterous. It made the doctor stop his screaming and shaking. He _knew_ that laugh. He could tell it apart from so many others anywhere. Feeling a little comforted by the sound of his captain's laugh, Chopper put the book down and slowly walked to where he was sure the man was sitting.

"What are you doing here? You scared me, you bastard," Chopper asked trying to sound angry but it came out more curious than angry.

Luffy laughed again only this time quieter. It made the reindeer look up at the man wearing his prized straw hat on his head.

"I can hear the music better from here," Luffy smiled without looking at his friend.

Chopper only nodded and sat down, his back to his captain. As he sat there in silent company, he thought, 'Maybe I can hear it too, if I'm quiet enough.'

However, Chopper never got to hear the song. It seemed that it was only something that Luffy could hear. Still, both Straw Hat Pirates went through their day as if nothing happened. The only thing that changed was that sometimes, at night, the doctor would join his captain.

Both listening for a sound that wasn't there.

~6~

In her short time while traveling with the Straw Hat Pirates, Robin found that she had learned many things. She now had precious nakama that she wanted to protect with her life. They thoroughly amused her and their care for her knew no bounds. She also learned little habits and secret pleasures of each member of the crew.

Franky stilled liked to do his "Super" dance, adding a little jiggle here and there, while he worked on extra parts of the Thousand Sunny. He would affectionately touch the wood, muttering to himself about how he was determined to out-do 'Tom'. That only happened when he was sure that no one was looking or around. He was determined not to show an ounce of weakness. He needed to be 'super' all the time.

Chopper would sadly look upon the cherry blossom design that Ussop had drawn for him on one of his medicine books. The reindeer would mix herbs but it was not until after he gently touched the cherry blossom design with his little hoof. He always seemed to put the best medicine into a purple flask with a brown rubber stopper. That too had a cherry blossom on it.

Sanji, while cooking, would have a dazed look on his face. It was not a love struck expression. It was the hopeful trance of a dreamer. It was like watching a performance as he cooked. He flips, chops, and batters with grace and speed. He makes his job look so simple and enchanting without even paying attention. All his thoughts were focused on a certain blue ocean conatining all the fish of the world.

Ussop could be found practicing his aim with his 'Amazing-Sharp-Star-shooter'. At first he had tried to use a gun but the noise of the object made him jump and always miss his target. So he substituted the gun for his large sling shot. Though the distance would increase as he improve, the target never changed. It was always an apple starting at a 'fifty paces'. He too would mutter something about being 'a great pirate of the sea'.

Nami, from time to time, would fondly look upon the tangerine orchards. She would gently touch the leaves before looking out into the vast blue sea, lost in a sea of her thoughts. When things got a little more than crazy on the ship, the orange haired girl could be found smiling brightly and carefree, just like everyone else was. There was not a moment that money was on her mind during those times.

Zoro, when he was not working himself to death, would sit and stare at his swords with a worn expression. The green haired man would sigh before giving the white blade a light pat. At times, he could even be seen washing his bandana with the utmost care. That was a sight to see as well. It was not just some black cloth to him.

Then there was her captain, Monkey D. Luffy. To be honest, Robin was sure that she would never really understand what went on in his head. His mind was fairly simple, the process and everything else that went on inside it. It seemed that the only things that were ever in there were meat and adventure. Anything else would go in one ear and out the other with impressive speed. However, that all suddenly did not matter when his unyielding will and spirit when it came into play. Those were the times that the Straw Hat captain was beyond comparison. Like she said before, he was a hard one to figure out.

Robin smiled to herself as she watched the said captain bounce around the deck, happily singing to himself off-key. It was an unfamiliar tune but it had a soothing melody to it, even if he was off-key.

Like the others, she never asked why a musician or music was so important. Instead, Robin took it to be one of the things could not be understood unless she was Luffy himself. So she let him continue with his song and merry jumping around. She continued to listening to the oddly soothing melody of the sea.

~7~

Franky had no idea what he was getting into when he accepted Luffy's offer to join his crew. He had expected something crazy and mind blowing but this was far beyond that. He could not believe that he, Franky the shipwright, was babysitting his own captain. The hyperactive male was currently tied to one of the mast posts and sleeping soundly. Franky managed to bore him to sleep by reading one of Robin's books. The blue haired cyborg himself felt his eyes droop as he got to the fourth line of the first paragraph.

Just as the blue haired cyborg was about to flop dead asleep on the deck himself, he heard a soft noise. At first he ignored it. If it wasn't an enemy crew trying to rip apart his ship then Franky decided not to let anything disturb his nap. However, when he heard it a second and third time he sat up with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"Shhhhh," Luffy's voice ordered.

Franky turned to his captain in surprise. He had thought the male had fallen asleep. When had he woken up?!

"What are you talking-," Franky asked but was cut off by Luffy shaking his head.

"Listen," Luffy suggested as he closed his eyes, "the sea is singing."

Franky frankly thought that Luffy had lost his marbles. The cyborg promptly stood up from his seat and walked to his room. He looked back once only to see that the black haired man being lulled back to sleep by a song that he could not hear. That was Franky's reason for not asking why a musician was important. He already knew that the sea itself but just too small in volume. A musician, which Luffy grew to want more and more with each passing day, would just be there to amplify the ocean's song, its call to pirates.

~*~

To Luffy, freedom was defined by two things. Two simple things that seemed to be the answer to everything for him. Freedom meant having the power to do anything he wanted without any limits. Freedom also meant that the melody of the blue waters he sailed would become his, and only his, theme song.

So that was what he answered when he was asked why he wanted to become the Pirate King.

He wanted _freedom a_nd that came with music.

What was a Pirate King without his own theme song?

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A/N: Review and tell me what you think! Guys... the more you review, the more authors and authoress write! I confess that reading your reviews really make my day. Thank you for all the people who do read and review. Also thank you to the people who also just read this as well. You guys give me hope to continue to write, while reviewers give me more insentive. (Now don't you want to be a reivewer? XD) *dramatically wipes tear* Please review~


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